REAL ID Act to impact driver's licenses

People in America’s heartland are about to see some changes to the process of getting a driver’s license, and those changes are causing controversy all over America.

On Jan. 15, Iowa will begin implementing the REAL ID Act, which the U.S. Congress passed in 2005 partly to combat terrorism in the wake of 9/11. REAL ID licenses and state identification cards will look very similar to what people currently have, but they will have a star in the upper-right hand corner that indicates to federal officials such as TSA workers that your identity has been verified.

The ACLU’s web page on the REAL ID Act rejects the new card as a “national identity card,” and claims the card will have several negative impacts, including:

Costing U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars to implement

Creating longer lines at driver’s license bureaus

Increasing identity theft

Allowing the government to routinely track people

Other states have taken issue with the feasibility of providing the required documentation in the wake of a natural disaster. Those documents could be difficult for someone to provide after going through a hurricane or a tornado. Some opponents say even a typo on a birth certificate could make it difficult to obtain a REAL ID card.

However, supporters of the program point out that the required documentation does not differ from what most states require to obtain a driver’s license. For example, Iowa has long required a birth certificate to obtain a license.

The future of the REAL ID program is clearly in doubt. Some critics say that it violates the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which leaves certain powers to the states. As of now, the program is set to begin on Jan. 15, though, unlike Iowa, many states will not be participating. (In Iowa, participation will be optional at first.) Even if the program is fully implemented across America, the earliest you could be required to have a REAL ID card is December 2014. By that time, it is possible that you will need a REAL ID card to board an airplane or enter a federal government building.

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